I'm always excited to share a new book haul with you!! Anytime Target or Amazon has a sale on books, I try to buy a few from my never-ending TBR list. Right now I'm making my way through a re-read on Eclipse (I've been on a Twilight re-read + re-watch these past few months!), however I want to squeeze in a few fun holiday reads before Christmas. I always love a festive romance for the holidays- I need easy and lighthearted this time of the year!!
You may or may not know that I usually like to go into books blind without much to go on. Rarely do I read through a synopsis and if I do, it's usually forgotten about it by the time I get around to buying/reading the book. Because of that, I have no idea what any of these are actually about, lol. Most of the time I find new recommendations based on ratings, new arrivals or if I keep seeing them pop up often in TikTok videos, on Goodreads, etc.
I love a good holiday rom-com so when I saw both Merry Christmas, You Filthy Animal and Good Spirits on the newly released/coming soon page a few months back, my attention was grabbed. I'm always drawn to cute cover art! Fast forward a little bit and both of these have been getting some great reviews which is always a green light. The only intel I really have is that Merry Christmas, You Filthy Animal is technically a spin-off sequel with secondary characters from the book How My Neighbor Stole Christmas. I contemplated reading it first, however I decided I wanted to start with the new one.
In the past I wouldn't have been able to do it! It would've drove me nuts to read a sequel without reading the first book. Now, I'm a lot less rigid on that and decided does it even matter?? I've never really been a huge fan of spin-offs- the first books are always the best IMO and the supporting characters typically aren't as interesting to me.
I'm kind of old school in that I love a classic, regular series where all of the books continue the same plot + story. Those I would have to read in order! In this case, I'm feeling the vibes on book two so we're starting there! Also who knows- maybe I'll love it enough to go back and read the first one too, haha.
I also finally picked up Mile High by Liz Tomforde. This book has been on my wish list for so long and is constantly raved about on TikTok. I vaguely remember reading the synopsis on this- I'm pretty sure it takes places in Chicago and our male lover is an athlete. That's about it! It's also part of a spinoff series, lol. I may or may not read the sequels but I'm at least excited for this one!!
-SHOP THE POST-
**SHOP THESE BOOKS + MORE OF MY READING LIST HERE**
What books have you been reading?
Every year I wait too long to start watching Christmas movies, I usually end up watching more after Christmas than before. I always have big ambitions to tackle both my favorites + new ones, however time seems to slip away. This year I'm pushing myself to start early and we're kicking things off with all new (to me) movies. I perused Netflix and found these starting picks- a few are new 2025 releases and some older additions that look promising!
From the new and trending, my three picks are: Jingle Bell Heist, Champagne Problems and A Merry Little Ex-Mas. I've already heard positive feedback on Jingle Bell Heist which looks cute. I like that the storyline is a bit different than a lot of the Netflix/Hallmark rom-coms, I'm excited to watch! Champagne Problems and A Merry Little Ex-Mas I was pretty much sold on when I saw Alicia Silverstone and Minka Kelly. Alicia will always be my fave!!
I watched a few different trailers of older movies I've never seen and both A Lot Like Christmas and The Noel Diary made the list. A Lot Like Christmas is giving classic Netflix Hallmark, The Noel Diary is a bit more dramatic. I typically go for lighthearted and fun on Netflix, however the more heartfelt movies usually end up on my favorites list. I like a little bit of sentimentality thrown in there too!
NETLIX CHRISTMAS MOVIE WATCH LIST
+ Jingle Bell HeistOkay ya'll, I have been trying to do a little food detox after all of the Thanksgiving indulgences. I've been cutting back on sweets especially, HOWEVER, the opportunity to try this week's Crumbl cookies presented itself so here we are! Lolllll. These reviews are also some of my most popular posts so I couldn't not share it with you. This week's lineup is sneaking in some holiday flavors with the following: Brownie Batter Cookie, Holiday Tree Cake, Snickerdoodle Sandwich Cookie, Sea Salt Toffee Skillet Cookie, Raspberry Cheesecake Cookie and Sticky Toffee Pudding.
Definitely a wide variety- I was excited to see the Holiday Tree Cake and Sticky Toffee Pudding. I've always been curious to try Sticky Toffee Pudding- you don't really find it here in the US so I thought it was neat they included it for the week! They're also both bringing in the Christmas vibes which is super fun right after Thanksgiving.
I would say the Holiday Tree Cake was a pretty good take on everyone's favorite Christmas Tree cakes! I always love the texture of Crumbl's cakes- very fluffy and moist. The flavor on this one wasn't exactly like Little Debbie but it was what you'd expect from a white cake + frosting combo. Very sweet and sugary! The frosting itself was on the thicker/hard side, I'm sure to try and replicate that tree cake coating. I also love the design- so cute and festive!
The Sticky Toffee Pudding was a no go for me- definitely a bummer! Because I don't have anything to compare it to, I'm not sure what to go off in terms of comparison. It just wasn't my jam. The texture of the cake was pretty dry and not what I'd expect for toffee pudding. I also felt like it lacked flavor and daresay had a bitter hint? The vanilla bean whipped cream on top was delicious and helped, just not enough for me to reorder. If I'm lucky enough to visit England one day, it's on my bucket list to try out the real deal!
I'm pretty sure I've had the Brownie Batter before- ya'll know I'm in the middle on the chocolate flavors. Most I can pass on. This one is super fudgy and does have that brownie vibe Ya'll know I always say the chocolate flavors are a little too bitter for my liking- this one wasn't bad but I could take it or leave it.
I also feel like I've had to have tried the Raspberry Cheesecake before... if not, definitely some other cheesecake flavor. I'm usually a fan of these- the graham cracker cookie flavor is always yummy with the cheesecake topping. The cookie this time was so so- a little dry and because it's chilled, hard. The topping was delicious! The raspberry sauce was the star of the show- it's super vibrant and fresh. I love the flavor and had the cookie been better executed, this would have been my favorite one of the week!
I have similar sentiments about the Snickerdoodle Sandwich Cookie- flavor, spot on. Texture- dry and hard from being chilled. Had this been served room temperature with fluffier cream, I think it would have been excellent. I really enjoyed the flavor! Sometimes snickerdoodle is boring for me but this one was great. To me it tasted a lot of the Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tarts which are my favorite.
Last was the Sea Salt Toffee Cookie Skillet. I have to do a little disclaimer on this one- I think I botched it a bit. Normally this one is served warm but because I wasn't eating them for awhile, everything went in the refrigerator. I reheated it later on, however the mousse topping got a little too melty so it definitely changed the vibe, lol. The flavor of this one was probably the most unique and was good, I just wasn't wowed.
Perhaps the issue is that they spoiled us last week with the Thanksgiving pies- those were outstanding! I raved about them in last week's post but I had zero complaints about all of the ones we ordered. I'm also still coming down from food/sugar overload so I could only stomach a few bites of each! All in all, it's always in good fun and I enjoy trying out new flavors. I also love when they add in some wild cards like the Sticky Toffee Pudding! The Christmas vibes and the box are so fun too!
Now it's back to detoxing- at least until the next must-haves come out, right? Lol- hope ya'll have the best weekend! - xx.
What's your favorite Crumbl flavor?
You can read the synopsis + shop each book by clicking on the title below:
+ Merry Christmas You Filthy Animal by Meghan Quinn
+ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
+ Good Spirits by B.K. Borison
I love sharing my favorite sales with you! Should you click on or make a purchase through the links in this post, I'll earn some money to keep on shopping. Pretty cool, huh? :)
I love sharing my favorite sales with you! Should you click on or make a purchase through the links in this post, I'll earn some money to keep on shopping. Pretty cool, huh? :)
